Local Open Government Blog : Open Government Law : Foster Pepper Law Firm : Northwest, Seattle, Spokane, Portland Lawyer & Attorney

In Nunez v. Pachman, 2009 WL 5084084 (N.J. Super., A.D., Dec. 29, 2009), the Court was called upon to decide whether a verbal reference in an arbitration to an expunged criminal record could violate a reasonable expectation of privacy and give rise to a cause of action sounding in tort. In New Jersey, “expungement” requires “all” records of a conviction to be destroyed. This in turn can give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy. The court noted that other states’ laws on expungement may be less strict, and cited cases holding that no claim for violation of a right to privacy existed in those states, under different expungement laws.

The absolute privilege from defamation actions for statements made in judicial proceedings may not apply outside traditional judicial litigation for a, because the protections from wrongful disclosure, like motions in limine, court-ordered sealing of documents, etc., may not apply.  The court held that protection of attorneys and witnesses in arbitrations unrelated to the subject matter of the privacy claim (here, in a union grievance arbitration, the fact that the union member had been arrested and convicted, though the conviction was expunged, the expunged conviction was not truly germane to the proceedings) was only qualified immunity, and the attorney could be liable for invasion of privacy unless, on remand, the attorney satisfied a several-factor test.

Thus when records are made privileged or otherwise exempt from disclosure, there may be some basis for a claim that revelation of those records outside the traditional judicial setting could give rise to liability, even though the case was in alternative dispute resolution.

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In Corey v. Pierce County, 2010 WL 255956 (Court of Appeals, Div. 1 Jan. 25, 2010), the Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order allowing a claim for damages for negligent release of unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct by a deputy prosecutor. The former deputy prosecutor alleged that disclosure of allegations of misconduct violated her right to privacy. The court held that protection against disclosure by an agency subject to the public records laws must be based upon the Public Records Act (PRA), RCW 42.56. The PRA provides for an action to order publication of information that would be offensive to a reasonable person and not of legitimate concern to the public. RCW 42.56.050; RCW 42.56.230(2). The PRA provides for injunctive relief to prevent this disclosure. RCW 42.56.540. The PRA does not, however, provide a cause of action for damages. The court declined to recognize a common law right of action.

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In addition to federal HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requirements, the Washington State Medical Records Act, Chapter 70.02 RCW places strict limits upon the disclosure of health care information. These limits apply to all health care providers, not only to hospitals. This includes anyone who "is licensed, certified, registered, or otherwise authorized by the law of this state to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession." An example would be EMT services provided by fire departments and fire districts. The Public Records Act specifically incorporates the Washington Medical Records Act at RCW 42.56.360. Washington's privacy protections are thus different from and in addition to those provided by federal law under HIPAA. More information regarding HIPAA is available at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services HIPAA website

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A bill has been introduced in the Washington State House of Representatives that would remove a public records exemption for certain records regarding public sector collective bargaining. HB 1471 would remove the exemption for all records created or presented during collective bargaining, and all records received by the bargaining representative -- after a collective bargaining agreement is reached.

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The Washington Association of Public Records Officers (WAPRO) is sponsoring an all-day seminar entitled Public Records 101 in Lakewood on Tuesday, January 26, 2010. Steve DiJulio, a member of our firm’s Public Disclosure Team, is participating on a panel in the afternoon. The panel will review the latest Public Records Act court opinions and provide insights and ideas on compliance with the Act. 

The WAPRO agenda and registration form contains more information about the training.   

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The Seattle Times reported this week that the United State Supreme Court announced that it would consider whether an employee has a right to privacy when sending and receiving text messages on an employer-owned electronic device. The case is City of Ontario v. Quon, and is an appeal from a 2008 Ninth Circuit ruling (Quon v. Archwireless Operating Company, Inc.). In that case the Ninth Circuit held that an employee’s right to privacy outweighed the public employer’s right to audit text messages sent from its employer-issued pagers. See our 2008 news alert for more information about the Ninth Circuit ruling. 

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case in the spring and issue a decision by the end of June 2010.

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On November 13 the Sunshine Committee issued its third annual report to the legislature. The Committee adopted recommendations to retain, modify, or eliminate 9 exemptions to the Public Records Act. Among the Committee's recommendations are that the legislature retain exemptions relating to certain records filed with the utilities and transportation commission or Attorney General, including records containing commercially valuable information, and that the legislature eliminate the exemptions that relate to personal records of the legislature, including correspondence and email. The Committee also recommended that all future exemptions be limited to a term of five years, after which they would be examined on a case by case basis.

The Committee's full report including all of its recommendations is available here.

Governor Gregoire signed an executive order on December 3 proposing that the legislature eliminate the Sunshine Committee.

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Yesterday, Governor Gregoire signed an executive order that eliminated 17 boards and commissions and she has asked lawmakers to eliminate 78 other boards, which according to the Spokesman-Review includes the Public Records Exemptions Accountability Committee, also known as the “Sunshine Committee.”  The Sunshine Committee  reviews and recommends changes to exemptions in the Public Records Act.

Here is a link to the list of eliminated boards and commissions.

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In a recent Ethics Opinion, the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee authorized blogging by judges. The Ethics Opinion advises, however, that any judge that engages in blogging should consider posting a disclaimer that the opinions expressed are only those of the author and should not be imputed to other judges and should outline constraints that the judge is subject to in order to avoid ex parte communication. 

See our October 23, 2009 blog entry regarding the City of Federal Way v. Koenig case for information regarding the applicability of the Public Records Act to the judiciary. 

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